I know I am not alone in celebrating the end of school lunch prep! Funny how at the beginning of the year we are excited about new lunch boxes and we have so many ideas - but before long the job is just another to add to our long list of things to do each day.

I have been working on a CPO lunch special for back to school and as part of this special I have discovered the fun of preparing lunch Bento style. While the Bento comes from Japan, North American’s are adopting this style of meal preparation. My daughter Emmy and I put a Bento lunch together for the kids today and we had so much fun. I often put school lunch notes into their boxes to remind them that I am thinking of them - and the Bento is a new version of lunch note for me. I plan to send a Bento to the kids camps a few times this summer and may even try it out in the fall when they head back to class. Their school is among many who have adopted the Balanced Day and the Bento is perfect for this kind of eating. I can put together two small lunches and they can eat them at their two nutrition breaks.

If you have created a Bento box for your kids share what you packed it in and what kind of box you use. I can see how left-overs will be more fun when packed bento-style!

Happy Summer!

Helen

I love summer because I love vegetables and I really love eating my own vegetables. Of course, my not so green thumb has prevented me from really enjoying a big garden - that and a serious lack of sun on our backyard.

My dad had a garden every year when we were kids, and when we bought our home 10 years ago he came up every year to help us plant a garden. His plants, which he started in the winter, were always big and ready to be planted. Even with his help, I didn’t have a lot of success. Sadly, my dad has fallen ill and this is our second summer without a visit from him. My son really misses him coming to see us and asked if we could plan our own garden this year. I guess he hasn’t realized that the success of anything in our backyard has been my dad’s doing but I agreed anyway.

We have kept things simple, tomatoes, beans, herbs and some pickling cucumbers (Sam wants to make some pickles this year!) and we decided to go out on the limb and try a watermelon and a butternut squash plant - knowing that they might not give us what we want - but it would be fun trying anyway.

I am happy to report that so far…. everything is growing. Our tomato plants are doing the best of all of the plants but I think we may have a little garden to feel proud of this year!

I will have to jump over to the CPO gardening board (Bugs & Blooms) for some help in keeping things alive but welcome your feedback and tips as I am sure we will be in battle with bugs and weeds before long.

We are printing off some pictures of our garden to take home to show Dad. Sam is very proud of his efforts and I am sure my Dad will be proud that his little grandson will keep his annual tradition alive.

Helen

OK - if you take a close look at this stack of fitness videos you will recognize some from the 90s. There might even be one from the 80s… The fact is, since having kids I have had a hard time carving out time for myself - for anything at all including maintaining my fitness & health.

I decided, with my busy schedule, I would dust off the stack and get moving again.  I actually love aerobics - LOVE LOVE moving to music and I really love anything Kathy Smith - great instruction and modifications.  That said, I am eager to hear about some of you who might also be basement fitness junkies… what are you working out to?  I am on a search for workout DVDs that inspire us to get moving and fit.  I know that the trends have changed over the years, exercise tapes are not all the same these days.  Yoga, Pilates, Boxing, Ball workouts - and I am sure lots more.  If you have a favourite tape share it with me and I will put it on the list so we can help each other.

And while I am talking about getting fit…. I am wondering how many other moms are eager to get fit (lose weight in the process but focus on getting fit)?  I would like to start a FIT Mom Blog where a group of us share the blog - like a support group for each other and for those who are looking for support as well.  Post a comment to let me know if you are interested in joining a BLOG GROUP or if you would rather you can email me at  - helen@canadianparents.com.

Watch my blog this week for more on getting moving…

Helen